


A Matter of Time

by operahousehomicide



Category: 18th Century CE RPF, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Aaron coping with Charles dying, Angst, Historical semi-accuracy, M/M, Modern AU, Post-Charles' Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 06:43:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10156502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/operahousehomicide/pseuds/operahousehomicide
Summary: I can't wait to see you again. It's only a matter of time.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Charles died of a fever/a flash bout of pulmonary edema in 1782. Aaron lived almost 54 years after he died. He died in October, and his sister died in 1788 in England, unmarried. The Lee legacy ends there. Aaron would take care of Spada.

The drive to Philadelphia from New York had long since become familiar to Aaron. Christ Church was not far from the law office where he worked, and he oftentimes drove there from work on Friday to visit Charles before going home for the weekend. Burr was certain he could drive there and back with his eyes closed.

Spada, elderly and greying, curled quietly in the passenger seat, his chin resting upon the console so the tip of his nose could remain in contact with Aaron’s thigh. The Pomeranian’s sight was beginning to go, and he was developing arthritis. Aaron took him on walks in an old children’s stroller he’d seen through the window in a thrift store one day and thought to purchase. He gave the pup hot baths twice a week, to ease his joints. He knew Charles would have been nothing short of doting, and strived to do the same.

The church staff was always kind to him. He had had coffee and donuts in the morning with the groundskeeper on more than one occasion. The clergymen knew him on a first name basis. He had been given free leave to come and go without signing in to the visitation log. Spada was allowed to accompany him onto the grounds.

Aaron tried his best to bring marigolds every time he visited.

They had been Charles’ favorite.

He gave Spada two treats every time they went. One from himself, and one from Charles. Spada sat with his head in Aaron’s lap when Aaron sat at the base of the tree beside which Charles was buried. Aaron did casework or read aloud, most of the time. It wasn’t uncommon for him to find himself guilty of taking a nap there during the warmer months.

October was always the hardest.

Charles had always been prone to fevers. Aaron never suspected he would get sick and die. Not went he chastised Charles for sniffling instead of blowing his nose. Not when he felt his forehead in his little New York apartment and discovered he was running a temperature. Not when he told him to go back to their Shenandoah estate, to be away from the city, until Aaron could follow him down on the weekend. Not when he had only given Charles a chaste kiss on the lips. Not when he hadn’t said any proper goodbyes.

Aaron had never gotten to say goodbye.

He always thought it would have been a gunshot, or a barfight, or a manic-depressive episode that would take Charles from him. Not a weakened immune system. Lee had served for years in the military and had always been particularly prone to violence as a means of resolving conflict. It wasn’t a bullet or his own hand that did him in.

It was a cold.

Charles had started his way back to Virginia, but stopped in Philly when he felt he was too sick to drive safely. He called Aaron to tell him he was checking in to a motel, and Aaron agreed readily to drive down and meet him in the morning to take him home. When he didn’t hear from him by eleven, Aaron called the motel. Upon arriving and discovering both EMTs and law enforcement officers present, Aaron found Charles had passed away overnight. He’d suffered from a bout of flash pulmonary edema and died in his sleep.

The doctors later informed him Charles hadn’t felt any pain, only the discomfort from being sick before falling asleep.

The hotel staff had fed Spada bacon and scrambled eggs left over from the continental breakfast. Aaron had thanked them.

Washington and some of Aaron’s coworkers, Hamilton included, had attended the funeral. Their solidarity kept Aaron going. Spada never left Aaron’s side unless absolutely necessary. Sidney, Charles’ sister, came over from England to help Aaron settle Charles’ estate holdings. They tied up loose ends together. While cleaning out the Virginia home, Aaron had found the ring. Sidney admitted Charles had been planning on proposing.

Aaron wore the ring.

He and Spada led quiet lives together. Aaron went to work and socialized with his coworkers, but spent most of his time at home, enjoying the peace. At first, his apartment had been too empty and too full of memories all at once. Spada being on a feeding schedule helped Aaron remember to eat. He did as he thought Charles would have wanted him to. He kept fighting on.

The decision to run for senator was made on a day he visited Charles’ grave. He settled in his usual spot near Charles’ headstone, against the roots of the tree. He and Sidney had purchased a plot on the edge of the cemetery. Charles had never been fond of too much company, and hadn’t wanted to be interred at all.

Aaron was reflecting on Charles’ reckless abandon and passion; his fighting spirit, when he decided that Charles would have wanted him to chase what he desired. He turned to Washington for advice. He spent election night celebrating alone with Spada, and allowed himself to take one of Charles’ hoodies from its’ vacuum-sealed bag to sleep with. It still smelled of Lee.

He strove for equality regarding LGBT and animal rights. He used his position as senator to advocate for what Charles believed in. His own beliefs fell into place once he began to fight for what Charles would have wanted. His political career was quiet but successful.

When Spada died, Aaron and Sidney pooled some money to purchase a little plot beside Charles to have him buried with his owner. When Sidney passed away as well, unmarried and estranged from she and Charles’ parents, Aaron attended her funeral in England.

Aaron lived a long life. He spent his older years in peaceful retirement, living quietly in the countryside. His most pertinent regret was not having more time with Charles. He had always believed in Heaven, and when he arrived, he was greeted with a familiar cold nose on his skin and a smile that he hadn’t seen in years from the pup’s owner. Charles’ hands on his cheeks were gentle, thumbing tears from Aaron’s eyes, and all Aaron could do was lean into his embrace.

 


End file.
